Ontario budget falls short on investments in northern Ontario, say advocates
An increase to Ontario’s Northern Health Travel Grant in the 2024 budget is “a tiny step in the right direction” but doesn’t go far enough, says NDP health critic France Gélinas.
The travel grant helps patients from northern Ontario cover their expenses when they travel elsewhere in the province for medical care.
The budget included an increase to the reimbursement for accommodations from $100 a night to $175 for the first night.
“If you need to stay there two or three nights, then the amount goes down every day,” Gélinas said.
She said while the increase is welcome, it still doesn’t come close to covering a hotel stay in Toronto.
“I know full well that a lot of people that are seriously sick, that need to come to Toronto once every two weeks, once every three weeks, and pay $350 a night for a hotel room,” Gélinas said.
“It adds up on their credit card and they just give up.”
In addition to reimbursements for hotel stays, the travel grant also reimburses patients for travel at a rate of 41 cents per kilometre. The first 100 kilometres travelled are also deducted from the reimbursement.
Gélinas said that portion did not receive an increase in the latest budget.
“Things have changed in healthcare, but the Northern Health Travel Grant has not,” she said.
High speed internet
The 2024 budget also included an increase in spending to improve high-speed internet access across Ontario, with $1.3 billion allocated this year, up from $300 million in each of the previous few years. It’s part of a $4-billion commitment to bring broadband internet access to every part of the province.
But Susan Church, the executive director of the Blue Sky Economic Growth Corporation, said that doesn’t appear to be new money.
“I think it’s just the same fund that gets re-announced several times over to be honest,” she said. “I mean that that is the same number that has come out with every broadband announcement.”
Blue Sky is focused on broadband development in northern Ontario.
Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy told CBC News the government won’t relent on meeting the 2025 target for high-speed connectivity across the province.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m sorry, but I can’t agree with that date,” Church said.
“It’s not easy. You know, we’ve had these announced projects now since July of 2021.”
Church said that outside of the five largest cities in northern Ontario only 42 per cent of households meet the government’s threshold for high speed internet; with speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 10 Mbps for uploads,
Post-secondary education
The budget included $10 million specifically for colleges and universities in northern Ontario “intended to provide targeted support to eligible institutions that are financially vulnerable, while the government works with them on efficiency initiatives.”
Sue Wurtele, board chair of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, said the money is welcome but it doesn’t make up for underfunding of post-secondary education overall.
“It’s sort of self-evident to us that northern Ontario universities are in a unique position and have been really challenged financially by the government year after year of inadequate funding,” she said.
Wurtele said she was also concerned about possibly tying the funding to efficiency initiatives.
“What ends up happening over and over again with this government funding and its focus on these efficiency initiatives is that they forced universities, ironically, to wade through more and more red tape and administrative burdens that really increased the inefficiencies,” she said.